


Catch, Repair, and ... Release?

by olive2read



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Poly, bear shifters, shifter + human
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 06:00:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19717651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olive2read/pseuds/olive2read
Summary: Olivia Zaber (Liv), known for finding stray people and giving them a boost to get back on track, stumbles across an injured bear on a dark, lonely stretch of road one night and feels compelled to help. Geneva Sylvanus (Eva), wakes to find herself recovering in a garage. She’s confused and disoriented but grateful for the anonymous help.When they bump into each other a few weeks later, Liv doesn’t recognise Eva in human form but Eva recognises Liv’s scent. Sparks fly, etc.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story came from a road trip thread on the Ripper’s Irregulars fb group. SO to Zee & Ripper for the initial idea/support, to Jessica for bolstering the noodling efforts, and to MJ for being MJ (and having a zillion names ready to hand) 😘
> 
> CW: description of feelings, emotional & physical, and minor description of damage after violent attack. No depiction of the attack.

Liv felt her eyelids drooping again and pinched her inner thigh hard, gritting her teeth against the pain. She’d already turned the air conditioning on full blast and the radio was as loud and pop-rock bright as she could stand it but her body was desperate for sleep. At this rate, she was going to have a spectacular set of marks along the inside of her left thigh without a fun story to accompany them. Well, apart from that whole ‘made it home alive’ bit, assuming she could keep her eyes open for the next twenty miles of somewhat windy, poorly-lit mountain roads. Not for the first time, she wished she’d taken the highway home and not her normal scenic route. She’d done it on autopilot and, at this point, it would take so much longer to backtrack than to stay the course.

 _What I need right now is a solid second wind_ , she thought. _Nothing too intense, just enough to keep me awake until I get home._

She pinched herself again for good measure and had made it another mile or so when her vision flickered and she realised she was slipping again. Suddenly, she jolted upright in her seat and slammed on the brakes. It hadn’t just been a flicker. There was something big and dark blocking the road ahead. The curvature of the road meant her headlights only grazed the object’s periphery, enhancing the sensation of a bulky blackness swallowing the light.

 _It’s probably nothing_ , she told herself sternly. _Shadows do funny things, especially when tired brains give them extra fodder._

She considered her options, keeping her eyes on the lump of whatever-it-was. She didn’t have any desire to star in a horror flick but, after a few more moments of watching the unmoving mass of darkness, she was unable to quell her curiosity sufficiently to simply drive around the obstacle and continue on her way.

 _One of these days_ , she silently promised herself, _self-preservation is gonna win_. She unbuckled her seat belt and reached into the backseat, rummaging until her fingers closed on her heavy duty flashlight and reminding herself for the umpteenth time that she needed to organise her kit. She turned on her flashers and aimed the powerful beam at the lump, getting slowly out of her pickup.

Liv caught her breath. It was a bear! As she got closer and could make out more details, she realised there was a dark puddle below the bear and her heart sank.

“Please don’t let it be dead,” she whispered. “Please.”

Up close, it seemed her worst fears were confirmed. The bear didn’t appear to be breathing and it was covered in deep gashes and scrapes all over its back and face. Liv chewed on her bottom lip, a long-time habit that her mother had warned her would become permanent if she wasn’t careful. She hadn’t been and, as her teeth settled comfortably into the well-worn groove her friends swore no one but her even noticed, she reflected that, while it may not have helped her thought processes, it certainly didn’t hinder them

Liv glanced back along the road. It was unlikely that any more cars would be driving this route tonight, but she couldn’t in good conscience just leave the bear on the road. The idea of some hapless motorist in rush to get home hitting the bear broke her heart. She also couldn’t bring herself to merely push it off the ledge, to let it fall down the steep slope beyond, and drive away. Shaking her head at herself, she trudged back to her pickup and drove cautiously around so that the bed faced the bear.

Once she was standing over the poor creature once more, she considered logistics. It didn’t _look_ especially heavy, and the local black bears were some of the smallest in the country … but that wasn’t saying much in comparison to brown bears and grizzlies. She could probably manage up to 250 pounds or so and there was no real way to determine the bear’s size until she tried.

She squatted near the bear’s midsection and tried levering it up into a fireman’s carry, stumbling and falling into the soft, damp fur a few times. Fervently hoping the damp seeping into her coat was due to the light rain earlier in the evening and not the blood even now coating her bootsoles, she somehow managed to heave the bear up on the fourth attempt.

With the bear over her shoulder, she noticed something she’d missed before – a very faint heartbeat. Her eyes widened and she nearly dropped the bear in her start of surprise. An exhilarating rush of elation gave her the boost to take the last couple of zig zagging, weaving steps to her pickup where she deposited her precious cargo with a profound sigh of relief. She could feel the adrenaline still merrily pumping through her system as she panted to catch her breath and knew she’d be paying for this little adventure in the morning - and likely for a few days at least. Even so, she gave herself a hearty mental fist bump for all the work she’d put in on her squats, her least favourite exercise.

Now that the bear was in the truck Liv wasn’t sure what the appropriate next steps were. She felt her rudest inner voice begin to berate herself and she clamped down, refusing to listen. It was okay that she didn’t have the perfect plan in place, brains don’t make the best plans when they’re exhausted, after all, and she’d diligently been working on being compassionate with herself at her therapist’s directive. After a few breaths to center herself, she checked her watch. 11:43pm. No way any of the local vets would be open this late and her whole being protested at the thought of driving all the way back to Portland for the emergency vet. Chewing on her lip once more and praying Emma would still be awake, she dug out her mobile and called her best friend.

“Hey – are you ok? What’s wrong?” Em’s voice, wreathed in concern, came through after a single ring and Liv felt herself relax just from the sound. Lovely Em was calm and practical, a soothing presence who always seemed to have a simple solution ready to hand.

“Hey Em, yeah, I’m fine. I’m so glad you’re up, dude.” 

Em’s voice softened. “Yeah, I managed to snag an extra night with Bea, so …” she trailed off and Liv smiled. Bea was Em’s first girlfriend and had a gruelling work, travel, and poly schedule which meant Em didn’t often get to see her more than once a week.

“That’s great, Em. I’m so sorry to interrupt.”

Instantly, Em was back on alert. “What happened?”

“I, um, I need some help with something. It, um, it’s nothing bad, I swear.” Em scoffed and Liv could picture her eye roll perfectly. Before Em could ask anything further, Liv continued. “I found an injured bear on the road and, well, it’s hurt really badly Em. I ... I’m not sure what to do. I don’t think I can make it all the way to the emergency vet in Portland and I can’t just leave it here, Em. Can I, um, would you, um,” Liv girded her loins and made the ask. “If I bring it to you, would you try to fix it?” Among other things, Em was a wilderness-trained paramedic and Liv hoped some of that knowledge would be readily translatable.

There was a long pause on the line and Liv took a few steadying breaths trying to force herself calm.

“Seriously, Liv? How do these things happen to you?” Liv opened her mouth, ready with an indignant reply, when a sigh from Em cut her off. “Never mind, don’t answer that. I have no idea if I can be of any help, and I want to state for the record that I think this is a terrible idea, but yes. _Of course_. You can always bring me your latest stray.”

“My latest _what_?”

“Oh come _on_ , Liv. This is what you do. It’s never been a bear before, I’ll grant you that, but you’re constantly picking up strays and giving them what they need to get back on their feet. Then they get romantic ideas and you run scared, washing your hands of them and rationalising it as the ‘practical’ thing to do. You’re the queen of catch, repair, and release. I guess I should be thankful that at least this time there won’t be that awkward conversation where they either want me to help them understand what happened or tell them how to get you back.”

Liv blinked, caught completely off guard by the keener-than-was-comfortable insight. She opened her mouth to defend herself, then shut it. Em wasn’t wrong, not really, Liv had just never thought of it that way before. She liked to help people and, sure, sometimes they got overly attached but, dammit, she’d thought she was getting better at setting boundaries and properly managing expectations. Besides, it really was best for everyone that they went their separate ways. Liv didn’t do romance and she certainly didn’t do long-term.

Em sighed again. “Sorry, Liv. I’m tired. That’s not an excuse – there’s definitely a conversation to be had there – but this isn’t the time and I shouldn’t have lashed out. How far away are you?”

Grateful for the, albeit temporary, reprieve, Liv did some quick social math in her head. Realistically she was at least 40 minutes away but she didn’t want Em to rescind her offer, especially since road conditions lately suggested it would take closer to an hour to get to the cabin. Her mental wheels spun furiously until she remembered that this was Em, not some rando, and she could be honest without layers of extra calculations. Striving to keep any lingering trepidation out of her voice she said, “Probably close to an hour? I’m in the switchbacks about a mile an a half from the Women’s Forum.”

“Cool,” Em replied and Liv relaxed. “That gives us time to shower and don company appropriate attire.”

Liv grinned. “Surely I’m not company, but I appreciate the effort. Also, Em, there’s loads of blood, so … ”

“So, plastic ponchos it is. And, actually, now that I think of it, why don’t we meet at yours? Isn’t the garage still empty?”

Liv mulled it over, chewing deeper into the well-worn groove on her bottom lip, and reflected that Em was probably right. She’d been trying to figure out what to do with the garage since the new house had more space than she was used to. One of these days she was going to organise all her camping and emergency gear in there but for now all of that was still in boxes in her spare room, along with everything else she didn’t need for basic daily life.

“Yeah, you’re right, that’s a much better idea. I think I’ve got a couple of spare mats and tarps too.” She chewed on her lip some more, her mind already jumping ahead to what she would need to make the bear as comfortable as possible on the cold cement floor.

“Alright, I’ll get cleaned up and head over.” Em paused and Liv could feel her debating whether to say something more.

She sighed and braced for impact. “Out with it.”

Em chuckled softly, knowing her too well. “It’s nothing that can’t wait. I’m just worrying and there’s no need to delay you further. See you soon, love. Drive safe.” With that, Em hung up.

Liv got back into the cab and reflected that, while she’d have preferred that no grievous harm had come to the bear, at least now, with her body keyed up on cortisol, she wouldn’t have to worry about staying awake for the rest of the drive.

___

Liv tried to focus her attention on the water beginning, ever-so-slowly, to boil in the electric kettle. Em had banished her from the garage – well, she’d asked her to make them both some tea but Liv could read between the lines – and it was taking all of her willpower not to hover in the doorway.

Hearing a disgruntled whine, she looked up at her aussie mutt, Lucy, unhappily locked behind the gate in the hallway and smiled. Lucy always wanted to be wherever her people were and being forced behind a gate while her people did things with another interesting-smelling creature must be excruciating.

“Sorry, kiddo,” she said, walking over to scratch the soft grey ears. “You know I love you but I don’t think an injured bear is well placed to appreciate your charms.” Lucy smiled up at her, tongue lolling, tail wagging frantically, desperate to prove she was a good dog and far too fidgety to pull it off, whatever people said about the temperaments of “working breeds.”

“Don’t worry,” Liv told her, giving a final chin rub before heading back into the kitchen and calling over her shoulder, “you’re still my best girl.”

Back in the kitchen she noticed the kettle had finished and poured the water over the two mugs of Em’s favourite Honeybush tea she’d prepared. She glanced toward the garage but knew that Em wouldn’t appreciate more hand-wringing, however worried she was for the bear, and there wasn’t anything else for her to do out there for the moment. She gave herself a hard mental shake and decided to forage for snacks.

When she went back out to the garage a few minutes later, she held a tray with the two mugs, a plate of assorted chopped veggies, some chips, a small bowl of guac, a jar of baby dills, and some wasabi-coated seaweed snacks. She kept her eyes on the path she was treading, purposely averting her gaze from the pile of blood-soaked fur, rags, and other discards from the work Em had already managed in patching the bear up.

She set the tray gingerly on the floor, on the opposite side of Em from the pile, and only then turned to take in the scene. Despite the gruesome discards and haphazard hair cut, things seemed to be going well. The bear looked so much better without all of the gashes leaking. Liv smiled, feeling the growth of the tiny seed of hope she hadn’t been able to quash since the moment she’d seen Em standing sentry over the makeshift field medic station.

By the time she’d pulled into her driveway, Em had already set up a cot and tarp, along with a station consisting of a stool, a basin of freshly boiled water, and a clean stack of rags. Somehow, between the two of them, they’d manoeuvred the bear on to it. It hadn’t been a gentle transfer but the bear hadn’t stirred and Liv’s anxiety had ratcheted up a few (more) notches. She’d watched worriedly over Em’s shoulder as her friend assessed the damage, until Em sent her to fetch Lucy’s clippers.

Finally finding them in one of the many as-yet-unpacked boxes in her spare room had taken long enough that Em had finished giving the bear a basic sponge bath, verified that no major bones seemed to be broken, and prepped a suture kit. Holding the bear, as though she’d really be able to stop it from writhing or getting free were it so inclined, had given her something to do while Em alternated carefully cutting back enough fur to get at the skin beneath, gently washing each gash, loosening any stray hairs matted into the blood, and stitching various patches. Em had asked her to replace the water in the basin three times before sending her in to make tea and Liv appreciated that Em knew her well enough to include her in the work and distract her anxiety with concrete tasks. Liv was both thankful and apprehensive about the fact that the bear hadn’t so much as twitched during any of it and the fretting would’ve driven them both up the wall without an outlet for release.

Now, watching as Em tied off yet another precise line of sutures, Liv blew on her tea as much to cool it as to have something to occupy her hands. She nibbled on a few strands of orange bell pepper and a couple pieces of seaweed and concentrated on taking slow, deep breaths.

Em finally glanced up and their tired gazes met. She smiled and Liv smiled warmly back, tilting her head slightly to indicate the tea and snacks. Em nodded gratefully, shucked her gloves and poncho onto the discard pile in one smooth motion, and reached for a few chips.

After munching along in companionable silence for a few moments, Em took a deep breath and exhaled forcibly. “Ok, Liv. I think that’s as much as I can do. I don’t even know if I’ve helped or made it worse but at least now she won’t lose any more blood.”

Em got up and headed into the kitchen, presumably to wash her hands, and Liv picked up the tray before following. At the threshold of the kitchen she turned and glanced back at the bear. The work had been Em’s but Liv still felt a glow of accomplishment to see the bear was breathing. She headed toward the table where Em was sitting with freshly washed hands, glancing over at her dog as she too sat. Lucy was losing her mind now that both her people were in sight and she was _still_ somehow locked behind the gate. The humans ignored her antics and spent a few minutes eating quietly.

“She’s hurt pretty badly,” Em said.

“She?” Liv asked.

Em grunted in assent. “Definitely she. When she wakes up, _IF_ she wakes up, Liv,” this last was coupled with a stern look and Em didn’t continue until Liv gulped and nodded, “she’s gonna need food and water and rest, and she’s also probably gonna be freaked out about being in an unfamiliar place. You’ll need to keep Lucy away from her, and yourself too, preferably.” Em held up a hand forestalling the protest already forming on Liv’s lips. “I realise that’s unlikely,” Em shook her head wryly, “but it would still be best for everyone. Not to mention that, any minute now, your body is gonna remember how tired it is and you’re gonna crash hard. I don’t like the idea of you alone and unconscious when a hurt bear wakes up scared and confused.” Em shook her head violently, as though she could dislodge any such possibility by force. “Listen, Liv, why don’t you and Lucy come stay with me for a few days? Leave her some fresh food and water, leave the garage door open, and hope she wanders off back into the wilderness instead of tearing your shiny new house apart.”

Liv grimaced. She hadn’t really thought about that part, about what this might mean for the future, or for her rental deposit. Then again, she hadn’t really been thinking much at all. She’d simply responded to the bear’s urgent need for help. She sighed.

“Alright, Em. You’re right. Let me pack a quick bag, clean up, and then we’ll head over.”

Em got tiredly to her feet, shaking her head and grinning. “No, you pack. I’ll clean. We’ll head out together and _I’ll_ follow _you_ to make sure you get there in one piece.”

Liv returned her best friend’s grin, understanding both the implicit threat and the incredible level of caring behind the words. “You got it. I’ll meet you out front in five minutes.”


	2. Chapter 2

Eva woke slowly, clawing her way back to consciousness. Everything hurt. She felt hot and tight and her bed felt wrong and it _smelled_ wrong. A whine of fear escaped before she could stop it. Her whole body tensed at the sound, then immediately released because it hurt too damn much. She stopped another whine, this time from pain, through force of will alone.

_Where am I? What happened?_

Despite the many questions spiralling around her brain, she couldn’t make anything out from the sensory inputs she was picking up. Her brain felt bombarded. Worse, the whirling dervish thoughts had kicked up some kind of mental dust cloud and she couldn’t seem to clear it.

She tried shaking her head but had to stop almost instantly as a wave of pain hit and dragged her under. She let out a weak growl, fighting to stay conscious, and lay still while a few more tides rolled in, until one of them fully submerged her and things went dark once more.

___

Waking again sometime later, she felt much better. More like she’d been in a bad fight than like she’d been through a meat grinder. Her body’s healing had clearly kicked in and she could feel the magic singing through her, repairing the damage. It certainly had its work cut out for it, if the pain was anything to go by. She noticed her body was humming faintly, on a level too low for human ears to pick up, a sure sign that the magic was working overtime. 

It bothered her that she couldn’t place herself in time and space, and not only thanks to her instinctual fear of sleeping in a place she didn’t control. She’d never blacked out before and would happily have continued living _without_ that particular experience. She wracked her brain for glimpses of what had happened but had only the vaguest of impressions from the night before. Rain, and then surprise, and then … nothing. How had she gotten here? 

She opened her eyes and made a quick survey of everything she could see without turning her head much. Her head and face still hurt like the blazes. The first thing she noticed was that it was far too bright and far too blurry. She wasn’t sure if her vision was fuzzy from the sun’s intense wattage or her injuries and she blinked a few times to try and focus. Her eyes seemed to get a little clearer as they adjusted. Keeping her lids at half mast, she took in bare walls, a few windows, a door directly in front of her and a larger opening to her left, the source of all the sunlight. 

_Wait,_ Eva narrowed her gaze, then looked up to confirm her suspicions, _that’s a_ garage _door._ But this had to be the barest garage Eva had ever seen. There was nothing in it beyond a bowl of water and a plate of food next to the cot where she lay, covered in a blanket.

The “not home” smell of this place was setting off alarm bells in her head but, now that she could sort of parse the information her nose was picking up, she realised that the underlying scent was not all that odd and was, in fact, rather pleasant. Well, apart from the blood. She frowned. She could smell blood, which made sense considering how much she hurt, but she couldn’t detect any beyond her own. Her frown grew deeper. Why would she have bled alone? At least the blood smell was residual and not fresh.

Warily, she pushed herself up on her elbows and inhaled deeply, cataloguing the various scents she found. There was the smell of the rain from the night before and a strong and fairly recent impression of dog, though no sound of barking so the dog probably wasn’t on the premises at the moment. Beyond that were coffee, salt, and something smoky, all of which likely pointed to lifestyle habits.

Inhaling again, she picked up two distinct human scents. She strained her senses to be sure but didn’t pick up any shifter markers. No, these were full humans. They were closer than the dog, close enough that they’d probably touched her – she realised she was growling at this thought and clamped down on the reaction. Nothing she could do about it now. It was weird that they had obviously come into contact and yet the scents were somehow fainter than the dog. There was something she was missing about that but she couldn’t seem to put her finger on what. She filed it away to pick apart later.

Her stomach rumbled and she considered her options. Someone, presumably one of the humans, had left food and water. Eva wasn’t sure if she should trust it but she was too hungry and too weak to forage. Not to mention that she had no idea where she was nor what forage might be available. Besides, the plate held chopped bell pepper, cucumber, and, of all things, PINEAPPLE which was her favourite. She gave it a cautious whiff and sighed with relief. It didn’t _smell_ tainted.

It was only as she reached toward the plate and saw her paw that it occurred to her she was still in bear form and she froze, looking down at what was unmistakably fur and claws. She was obviously badly in need of healing, so why hadn’t she shifted? The only thing she could think of was that her instincts must be picking up on some danger she hadn’t catalogued, as her human form was more vulnerable and would be depleted even further after shifting, for all that it would speed the process of healing. She scanned the garage once more but didn’t register anything as a threat. She wasn’t restrained in any way, the garage door was wide open and, if she squinted, she could just make out the edges of a gate further along the drive, also standing open.

She grabbed a few veggie slices and munched on them contemplatively. All things told, it was probably better overall if her body stayed in bear form until she got home. She had no idea where she was or how long it would take to travel back and humans tended to look down upon public nudity. When she’d finished all of the veggies and gulped down the majority of the water, she gingerly selected a chunk of pineapple and popped it into her mouth, savouring the sweet and tangy bite on her tongue. She didn’t want to dawdle too long enjoying the treat but pineapple was such a rare indulgence that she couldn’t help but draw out the pleasure.

When she’d swallowed the last bite, she carefully cleaned her paws and lumbered to her feet. Shuffling her way outside, she caught the scent of her blood on the breeze and followed it around to a trash can to the side of the garage. Opening the lid, she pulled out the source which seemed to be a large trash bag, tied tightly shut. Not sure what she would find, and not wanting to dump the contents out on the ground, Eva delicately sliced a small opening with her claws and peered into the depths. She found some discarded gloves that matched one of the human scents, a plastic poncho with the same signature, and handfuls of her own fur. She stared at the clumps in shock. She hadn’t noticed any bald patches, which meant these had most likely come off her back. Suddenly the trek home took on a bleaker cast. She tried to tell herself that it was just her ego, her fur would grow back once she’d completed a shift, but she couldn’t deny the worry that someone in her clan might _see_ her and she didn’t even know how bad it was to be able to prep her own reactions.

Well. There was nothing she could do about it for the moment. Her body didn’t seem to want to shift and she knew she need to place her faith in the magic knowing what the best action was. 

Once she’d replaced the trash in the bin, she ambled down the drive and took a few steps off the road. She wanted to be close enough to follow it without being readily visible to anyone traveling it. Hopefully there would be a street sign before too long. She was intimately familiar with the area in a 50 mile radius of her den, so presuming she hadn’t been taken further than that, she should come across something familiar soon.


End file.
